Box Score KANEOHE, Hawaii - Hawaii Pacific built a nice-sized lead in the first half and shot 56-percent for the game to lead it to a 74-60 men's basketball victory against Alaska on Thanksgiving Day at the Neil Baisdell Center.
The Sea Warriors (1-3) were led by
Fran Urli, who scored a game-high 17 points on eight of nine shooting. Seven other players tallied between six and nine points to complete the balanced attack. HPU shot an impressive 66.7-percent (16-24 FG) in the first half and 56-percent (28-50) for the game, while draining 62.5-percent (10-16 3PT) from beyond the arc.
The Nanooks (1-5) had two score in double figures as sophomore forward
Stefan Tica (Belgrade, Serbia/Panola College) posted a team-high 14 points, while senior guard
Jarrett Miller (North Pole, Alaska/West Hills CC) had 11, respectively. Alaska shot just under 44-percent (21-48 FG) from the floor and struggled from three, making just five of 19 tries (26.3%).
HPU won the rebounding war 30-25 and had 16 assists to Alaska's seven.
Leading 12-10 in the first, the Sea Warriors went on an 11-2 run to take a 23-12 advantage with 11:35 to go. After a pair of Nanook free throws, HPU scored 15 straight in a span of 4:45 to snag a comfortable 38-14 lead. The home team took a 45-22 score into halftime.
Alaska got the lead down to 18 at 54-36 with 13:55 to play in regulation, but HPU would take its largest lead of the game at 74-47 with 5:32 remaining. The 'Nooks closed the game on a 13-0 run.
Alaska returns to action tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. for a meeting with third-ranked BYU-Hawaii in Laie.
